Retail Sales Rise For Sixth Month In A Row

More good news for the economy! Retail sales are up, meaning that despite Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's expectations of only moderate economic growth this year, American taxpayers are more willing to spend their money.

From HuffingtonPost.com:

This change in attitude is reflected in the numbers. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales were up in December, the sixth month in a row, making for the strongest holiday sales retailers have seen in recent years.

Sales rose 0.6 percent last month to $381 billion, lifting sales for the year by the largest amount in more than a decade.

Speaking to the Senate Budget Committee last week Ben Bernanke expressed the hope that "a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold."

Despite the private sector adding 113,000 last month and 50,000 jobs in November, Chris Christopher, the IHS Global Insight economist who conducted the analysis, expects the unemployment rate, currently 9.4 percent, to remain above 9 percent in 2011.

"Businesses are hiring people, but they're not hiring them at a fast enough rate because they're waiting to see consumer spending increase more. They're still a little hesitant," Christopher said.

Continue reading at Huffington Post.com...

Late Back-To-School Shopping Lifts Retail Sales

During times of economic struggle it is not uncommon for new consumer trends to surface, the latest of which is late bargain shopping. Retailers saw stronger-than-expected sales in September as shopping held out for back-to-school clearance bargains. This is a trend that many expect to be repeated during the holiday season.

Reuters.com reports:

Department stores and luxury chains also posted forecast-beating results, helping push retail shares higher.

But retail experts warned that shoppers are still cautious as they draw up budgets for the holiday season, as unemployment remains high. That means they are likely to hold out for discounts again even if overall spending rises from 2009.

"It was a late back-to-school season that started slowly while shoppers waited for discounts," said David Bassuk, managing director at AlixPartners' global retail practice. "And it looks like they'll do the same for the holidays."

U.S. same-store sales rose 2.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data which tracks 28 top chains, beating analysts' estimates for a 2.1 percent increase. It was the 13th straight month of sales gains.

Read more here

Retail Sales Rise a Modest 2.9% at Major Chains

From LA Times.com:

The crucial back-to-school season got off to a slow start last month as retailers hoping for brisk sales of clothes, backpacks and school supplies saw tepid business and continued consumer frugality.

"The days of buying merchandise well before school starts are gone now. Kids would rather wait to see what the cool brands and styles are … and parents would rather put off spending until their kids will actually wear what they buy," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group.

"Don't mark the back-to-school shopping season absent this year — it will just be a little tardy."

Major chain stores reported that sales rose a modest 2.9% in July compared with a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters' tally of 28 retailers.

That was lower than the 3.1% increase analysts had predicted, and marked the fourth straight month that results either missed or came in at the low end of expectations, said Michael Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Shrinking Credit Threatens Almost $9 Billion in Sales

This time of year is normally a retailers dream, but according to Bloomberg.com people are spending much less than usual this holiday season. With banks tightening their lending practices before a new credit-card law is due to take effect, large retailers are expected to lose out on nearly $9 billion in lost revenue.

Sales in November and December may fall 1.2 percent to $436.7 billion from the same period in 2008, said Britt Beemer, chairman of consumer polling firm America’s Research Group. If lenders weren’t cutting customer spending limits and rejecting more credit-card applicants, sales would gain about 0.8 percent to $445.5 billion, he said in a Dec. 21 interview.

Target Chief Financial Officer Douglas Scovanner says the credit-card legislation is exacerbating a spending slump just as consumers begin to consider more discretionary purchases they would usually buy with credit. Items such as clothing, jewelry and home goods suffered steeper declines during the recession and are among the most profitable sales for retailers.

“It will mute the impact of the rebound that would have otherwise occurred,” Scovanner said. “Diminished availability of credit equals diminished spending.”

Reduced lending may shave at least half a percentage point off sales at stores open at least a year once more of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act goes into effect in February, Scovanner said in a Nov. 17 interview in Minneapolis, where the chain is based. In November, Target’s comparable-store sales declined 1.5 percent.

Check Out Line: Consumers spending again?

From Reuters.com:

Check Out home-related retailers Sears Holdings and Williams-Sonoma reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. Does this mean consumers are feathering their nests again?

Somewhat, according to Barclays analyst Michael Lasser, who said Williams-Sonoma’s results were “an indication that upper-income consumers are spending a bit more, which is not surprising given the rally in the stock market and the stabilization in the housing market.”

Williams-Sonoma, which also operates Pottery Barn and West Elm, has updated its styles and slashed prices on some items to woo shoppers, despite worries that the move might tarnish its image as a high-end retailer.

But it’s not only high-end chains showing signs of life. Kmart, the value-priced retailer that sells everything from appliances to clothing, posted its first increase in same-store sales since 2005, and only its second since 2001. The chain, which is owned by Sears, took back its shoe operations this year from Footstar, which had operated within Kmart stores.

Even Sears, which depends more heavily on the housing market due to its Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances, posted its best performance since the fourth quarter of 2007, and outperformed competing home improvement chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Retail sales unexpectedly dip 0.1 percent in July

The U.S. Commerce Department made an unwelcome announcement today stating that despite the prediction of an increase, retail sales in the U.S. actually dropped by 0.1% last month. This number would have been much worse if it were not for auto sales, which actually rose by 2.4% due to the Cash for Clunkers program. Check out the following story on this unexpected revelation courtesy of the Associated Press.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month. Economists had expected a gain of 0.7 percent.

While autos, helped by the start of the Cash for Clunkers program, showed a 2.4 percent jump -- the biggest in six months -- there was widespread weakness elsewhere. Gasoline stations, department stores, electronics outlets and furniture stores all reported declines.

The July dip was the first setback following two months of modest sales gains. Excluding autos, sales fell 0.6 percent, worse than the 0.1 percent rise economists had forecast.

Gas station sales plunged 2.1 percent, due more to falling pump prices than weak demand. Excluding the drop at gas stations, retail sales would have posted a modest 0.1 percent increase.

Department store sales fell 1.6 percent and the broader category of general merchandise stores, which includes big chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp., posted a decline of 0.8 percent.